Hispanic Art in the United States

June 1, 1989
Eight New York-area artists are represented in Hispanic Art in the United States: Thirty Contemporary Painters and Sculptors, the first major museum exhibition to survey in depth the work of contemporary American artists of Hispanic origin. The exhibition, which opens June 9 at The Brooklyn Museum and will remain on view through September 4, is concluding its two-year, seven-city tour in New York.

The New York artists and many of their colleagues will be present at a gala reception, sponsored by AT&T, on Wednesday, June 7, from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m., to celebrate the opening of the exhibition. Hispanic Art in the United States, organized by The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, has been made possible by grants from The Rockefeller Foundation and ARCO Foundation. The national tour is sponsored by the AT&T Foundation.

The exhibition of 150 works includes paintings, sculpture in bronze, wood, stone and ceramic, works on paper, mixed-media objects and installations.

LUIS CRUZ AZACETA was born in Havana in 1942 and came alone to the United States when he was 18. He studied at the School of Visual Arts in New York, painting geometric abstractions, and graduated in 1969. He has had numerous solo and group shows, and has received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. His paintings are in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art and The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

ROLANDO BRISENO, born in 1952 in San Antonio, is of Mexican-American descent. He studied art at The Cooper Union and at the University of Texas in Austin, receiving a B.A. and B.F.A. in 1977, and an M.F.A. from Columbia University in 1979. Virtually all of his mature work was destroyed in a fire in 1985. Devastated by the loss, Briseno moved to Rome. Most of the work in this exhibition was produced there. He now resides in Brooklyn.

LYDIA BUZIO was born in Montevideo, Uruguay, in 1948. She studied drawing, painting and ceramics in Montevideo, and was influenced by the family’s neighbor, Horacio Torres, the son of the Uruguyan painter Joaquin Torres-Garcia. She moved to New York in 1972. Her admiration of frescoes combined with the constructivism of Torres-Garcia form the basis of her work, which consists of frieze-like compositions painted on earthenware vessels.

ISMAEL FRIGERIO was born in Chile in 1955 and studied philosophy and fine arts at the University of Chile. His commitment to painting brought him to the United States, first in 1979, and permanently in 1981. He continues to study philosophy, and maintains ties with Chile, exhibiting there and in the United States.

ROBERTO JUAREZ was born in Chicago in 1952 of Puerto Rican and Mexican-American descent. He received a B.F.A. from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1977 and, following a brief visit to Paris in 1979, moved to New York. His work was included in the Museum of Modern Art’s recent international survey exhibition of contemporary painting and sculpture, and he has had numerous solo exhibitions.

GREGORIO MARZAN, in a pattern typical of self-taught artists, did not begin creating art until late in life. Born in 1906 in Vega Barja, Puerto Rico, he moved to New York in 1937, where he found work in a series of toy factories. Several years into his retirement, he began making fanciful animal sculptures, brightly colored with paint and foil. His work is in the collection of El Museo del Barrio in New York.

PEDRO PEREZ was born in Caibarien, Cuba, in 1951, and came to the United States with his parents in 1966. He received an M.F.A. from the Maryland Institute of Art in Baltimore in 1976, and subsequently moved to New York. His artistic production ranges from painting and drawing to elaborate gold leaf and cut glass constructions.

LUIS STAND was born in Colombia in 1950, and came to the United States in 1969 to become an artist. He studied at the School of Visual Arts in New York, receiving his B.F.A in 1980. He is a painter and sculptor who exhibits regularly both in Colombia and New York.

April 1, 1989
The first museum exhibition to survey in depth the work of contemporary American artists of Hispanic origin opens at The Brooklyn Museum June 9, 1989. Entitled Hispanic Art in the United States: Thirty Contemporary Painters & Sculptors, the exhibition presents 150 works in a broad range of styles and themes by 30 artists, and includes paintings, sculptures in bronze, wood, stone, and ceramic, works on paper, mixed-media objects, and installations. It will remain on view in the Museum’s East End Galleries, located on the fifth floor, through September 4, 1989.

The exhibition, organized by The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, has been made possible by grants from The Rockefeller Foundation and ARCO Foundation. The national tour is sponsored by AT&T Foundation.

The Hispanic population in the United States comprises a great ethnic, cultural and national diversity. Hispanic Art in the United States reflects this variety with a presentation of Latino artists who have produced vital and progressive art in cities throughout the United States. The artists included in the exhibition are both professionally trained and self-taught painters and sculptors who draw on a multitude of historical and stylistic sources. A few of the artists, such as Luis Cruz Azaceta, Robert Graham and Manuel Neri are well known; most, however, have not as yet established national reputations. While approximately half the artists represented were born in the United States, all currently reside at least part time in this country.

While a number of the works in the exhibition can be identified with more recent mainstream trends in contemporary American art, like Neo-Expressionism and New Image painting, others represent more regional developments that have not been as widely recognized. The southwestern United States, where large numbers of Chicanos (Mexican-Americans) live, is particularly well represented in the exhibition. Also included are works by artists of Cuban, South American, and Puerto Rican heritage.

The exhibition was selected and organized by John Beardsley and Jane Livingston of The Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. for The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Its installation at The Brooklyn Museum was coordinated by Charlotta Kotik, Curator, and Laural Weintraub, Assistant Curator, of Contemporary Art at the Museum.

The exhibition is accompanied by an illustrated scholarly catalogue containing detailed biographies of the artists as well as introductory essays on Hispanic art and culture by Octavio Paz, noted Mexican poet, writer and diplomat; Jane Livingston, Associate Director of The Corcoran Gallery of Art; and John Beardsley, Adjunct Curator at the Corcoran (260 pages; hardcover, $32.50).

In conjunction with the exhibition, the Museum’s Division of Education has organized a variety of public programs. On Sunday, June 18, an important daylong symposium will take place entitled “Hispanic Art in Perspective.” Other programs include bilingual gallery talks, artist walk-throughs of the exhibiton, bus tours to artists’ studios, and a Latin American outdoor concert series. In addition, an audio guide with commentary by some of the artists in the exhibition as well as by scholars on Hispanic art will accompany the presentation.

May 1, 1989
In conjunction with the major traveling exhibition Hispanic Art in the United States: Thirty Contemporary Painters & Sculptors, which is on view at The Brooklyn Museum from June 9 through September 4, 1989, the Museum’s Education Division has organized a variety of public programs -- many of them free with Museum admission. They include: a daylong symposium, Latin jazz concerts, a bus tour to artists’ studios, bilingual gallery talks, artist walk-throughs of the exhibition, as well as a variety of children’s programs.

An important symposium entitled “Hispanic Art in Perspective” will take place on Sunday, June 18. This dialogue of curators, scholars, critics, and artists will explore the myths and realities of cultural cohesiveness, issues of artistic identity, and frameworks for understanding, evaluating and presenting Hispanic art and culture. Admission to the symposium is $10.00, and preregistration is required.

A full weekend of events, including a special viewing of the exhibition and a bus tour to New York City Hispanic art institutions, will precede the symposium. The symposium is designed to provide participants with a broader view of the artists and institutions continually at work within the Hispanic arts community. There will be an admission charge to these events, and preregistration is required.

Giants of Latin jazz can be heard as part of the Museum’s outdoor-concert series, “Jazz Up Your Summer,” held in the Frieda Schiff Warburg Memorial Sculpture Garden. On Sunday, August 13, at 3 p.m. (rain date: Monday, August 14, at 6 p.m.), conga master Ray Barretto and his Latin Jazz Ensemble will perform in concert. On August 20, at 3 p.m. (rain date: August 21 at 6 p.m.), Paquito D’Rivera and The Havana/New York Ensemble will perform a special salute to Chico O’Farrill, the masterful composer and arranger for The Afro-Cubans, legendary band of the 1940s and 50s. Concluding the series on August 27 at 3 p.m. (rain date: August 28 at 6 p.m.), the renowned Gonzales brothers, Jerry and Andy, entertain with their Fort Apache Band and special guest trumpeters Alfredo “Chocolate” Armenteros and Jose Chombo Silva. The jazz series is free with Museum admission.

On Thursday, July 13, Brooklyn Museum curators Charlotta Kotik and Laural Weintraub will conduct a special tour to the studios of three painters whose work is represented in the exhibition. Luis Cruz Acazeta, Rolando Briseño and Pedro Perez will discuss their techniques and works in progress. There will be an admission charge to this event, and preregistration is required.

The Museum’s popular “Children Meet the Artist” series, which consists of a gallery visit and a hands-on workshop session, continues this summer with two related events. Young people ages 13 and older have the opportunity to meet the painters Luis Stand on Saturday, June 17, at 12:45 p.m., and Rolando Briseño on Saturday, August 5, at 1 p.m. Admission is free, and preregistration is required.

Other programs, including gallery talks and artist walk-throughs in both English and Spanish, as well as a children’s art course related to the exhibition, will be held throughout the summer. For further information on fees, registration and schedules, please call the Education Division at (718) 638-5000, Ext. 230.